Jump to content

Menu

Upward Journey

Members
  • Posts

    1,597
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Upward Journey

  1. I have a big age gap like that between my first two (6 years) and I'm also very shy. Anyway, I was running into the same problems that you are.

     

    When oldest was 13 yo I ended up putting him in year round swimming. It really did the trick for us.  He was in the same activity, with the same kids, every day. He ended up with friends, I ended up with friends, my younger children ended up with friends.  Thirteen years later we still have some of these friends, even though we're all in different states and even countries.

    • Like 2
  2. I am going to be purchasing a new oven â€‹in about a month- woohoo!  I wanted to stay under 700 dollars for our new purchase, but then I saw double ovens (a large families dream-lol) and wondered if anyone here had double ovens.  I figured that this is an investment and we eat 3 meals a day at home almost daily so it may be worth spending more that I originally allotted to have a double oven. We are also a large family and if we have chicken nuggets or fish sticks- we can never have fries (which seems silly, but to me it kind of ruins a quick easy meal if you still need to cook-lol) because we take up the whole rack with the one item now, rather than half and half-kwim.

     

    ​So for those that have these:

     

    ​1. What one do you have and are you happy with it?

     

    ​2. Are they deep enough for a turkey?

     

    ​3. Do you believe they are worth the double cost vs. purchasing for similar single oven variety?

     

    ​For those that chose not to buy a double over:

     

    ​1. What influenced your decision the most?

     

    ​2. Do you regret your decision? Do you wish you had purchased the double?

     

    ​Going with a double would require us to wait a bit longer for the purchase, but this is the first appliance that we have actually ever bought (our homes already came equipped) and I want to make a good decision.

     

    If you have a favorite gas stove/oven combo- what is it-lol?

     

    ​Thank you ladies!

     

    ​Brenda

     

    ​

     

    I have a double, non-gas oven.  I love, love, love it.

     

    It came with our house (previous owners), so price wasn't an issue. 

     

    It has a smaller oven on top, fits one tray, and a larger bottom oven that fits three trays.

     

    The only thing I don't like, is how close to the ground the larger oven is. However, that's a minor inconvenience compared to how much easier it has made it to cook for our large family.

     

    I think this is what I have http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/electric-range-reviews/a26726/maytag-gemini-double-oven-electric-range-met8885x-256/

     

    eta: I think I would super, super love this oven if it was gas.

    • Like 1
  3. Yeah ... I know the yogurt has sugar, but she won't drink the other kinds.

     

    I am not a yogurt lover. In general I just don't enjoy sour foods. I've found that full fat plain yogurt (I think the kind I get is 13%) is much sweeter than the regular plain yogurt. I can actually eat it straight... if I'm forced too. I can't even get regular plain yogurt down.  I do also always pour off the whey before eat it. I'm probably pouring away some of the benefit, but my taste buds would disagree ;)

    • Like 1
  4. It's been so cold here that it made my eyeballs hurt. They did finally lift our extreme weather warning this afternoon :) It's up to -4F......

     

    It's not like it's anything new, these extreme temperatures happen every year. It's just that you forget how cold -40 feels. Maybe we block it out, kind of like child birth  :lol:

    • Like 3
  5.  

    This morning I woke up to -36°C.  That is -33°F.... 

     

    In attempt to be positive about it:

    • both F and C people recognize that that it bloody cold;
    • the inside part of my door mailslot is white from the frost;
    • the sky is beautifully clear, blue and sunny

     

     

    We're experiencing the same kind of temperature range in my neck of the woods. 

     

    Two to three years ago we had this kind of weather for more than a month straight, so I'm comforting myself with the fact that this years fall weather lasted for more than two weeks: bonus if we end up having an early spring. Fingers crossed!

    • Like 1
  6. As a grandmother with her head in the clouds, I would have really hoped for a reminder from my daughter-in-law. It is not that it is her responsibility to remind me of my grandchildren’s birthdays. It is just that I do forget easily since we do not live close. Bonus points if she tells me what to buy.

     

    I'm like that too.  I wish I that wasn't, but I am.  

     

    I'm so bad with dates.  I forget birthdays all.the.time. I even forget my own sometimes!  But my grandson in February? I'm especially bad at that one. I just don't have any other date to tie it to, to remind myself. So I'll remember too early to send something, and then forget by the time it gets here.

     

    I sure hope that my grandchildren and in-law children give me grace.

    • Like 1
  7. For me it's not the heat, and it's not the humidity.  When I lived in AZ the heat only bothered me when it was really hot, like I just stepped into an oven hot :) so above 105F?

     

    When I lived in FL the humidity bothered me, but not because it was coupled with the heat. It was because it felt like I was never completely dry. It always felt like my skin was damp. But maybe that's why humidity bothers everyone  :lol: I've never actually asked anybody...

     

    Even the winter bothers me if there are too many sunny days in a row. It doesn't matter that it's actually -20F outside.

     

    It's the sun's brightness and intensity, independent of temperature, that lead to my SAD symptoms.

  8. The blackout curtains really do help. I was late getting them up last year and I suffered for it. Especially in the morning, they keep the sunlight to a minimum which helps me sleep better when the sun is coming up too early. Not to mention they keep the house a little cooler, and much more cave-like. :laugh:

     

    You just helped me realize why I've been so glum lately  :lol:

     

    Next week is summer solstice. :svengo: I can't believe that I didn't think of this sooner. Our days are almost 17 hours long atm. 

    • Like 1
  9. Critterfixer, I think you're right to ask the doc for some medication because it sounds like you have some serious anxiety

    when it comes to endless sunshine. Hope you get the help you need!

     

    Upward Journey, it is so very true that most of the year here (at least in Phoenix) is what the rest of the nation considers 

    summer weather. If I could figure out a way to move to more of an elevation (a mile or higher), I probably wouldn't have these issues

    because at least up there I could truly get some colder weather more than one or two days a year.

     

    Maybe weekend trips to the White Mountains or Sedona?

     

    I have to say though, that going up Mt. Lemmon never really helped me, it was still just as bright and only a little bit cooler.

     

    When the water was running in Sabino, that was lovely :) and a wonderful reprieve.

     

    Maybe Flagstaff....

  10. I used to get so very depressed during the "summer" when I lived in AZ. I put summer in quotes because let's face it, summer there is most of the year! The endless sun, the endless heat, the endless brightness of it all. I just wanted some clouds, and some rain, and some cooler weather! Don't get me wrong I loved AZ. I loved the open expanse, the mountains, and even the brown, just not the everlasting sunshine!!!

     

    Now I live in the land of never-ending winter, LOL, and I still get depressed if it's sunny for too many days.  I do get tired of the snow come March/April (this year it was May!) but it doesn't effect me the same way that the sun does.

     

    I loved living in the PNW. Unfortunately, my dh couldn't take it.  He's my exact opposite when it comes to climate. 

    • Like 1
  11. We moved in December so everything is new this year. The front yard was all grass, so I have been digging up lots of sod in order to make borders and islands. I'm trying to make an attractive edible landscape since the front yard gets all the sun, and I think that I'm doing ok so far. I've put in lots of blueberry bushes, a cherry tree, some raspberry canes, and strawberries. I put in a herb garden, an island anchored by a weeping spruce, and a little berm at the front, planted with a mixture of herbs and ornamental shrubs. I love dicentra and sedum, so I've included those where I can, and I've filled in with annual flowers and veggies. I don't want it to look too farm-y, so I've done things like planting sweet peas and edible peas together, and planting veggies with ornamental value, like runner beans. I don't know, maybe it works, maybe it's just a hot mess. I can always change things around next year. :)

     

    Edited to add:  I love seeing pictures of gardens. I'll try to add some at some point. Maybe using creative photography to make the garden look better than it really is.  :laugh:

    SaveSave

     

    That's kind of what's happening at my house, too :)  We moved into this house right after the first snowfall, so I had no idea what was going to come up this spring. It's been so much fun to see.  The previous owners were avid gardeners, he loved his fruit and she loved her flowers.  I've only identified about half the flowers at this point, and I still have three fruit trees that I "think" will eventually bare some kind of stone fruit (because of the leaves).  None of them flowered this year, too young I guess.

     

    Because of all the fruits trees, only my front yard gets full sun.  I have "landscaped" in between the flowers beds with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and watermelons ;)

    • Like 3
  12. It's not a good year for my fruit trees--late frost destroyed most of the apricot, peach, and pear crops. Looks like we will have apples and grapes.

     

    My tomatoes look happy. I didn't plant as much of a vegetable garden as I would have liked, it just wasn't top priority with the new baby arriving right at planting time :)

     

    I think we've lost most of our apple crop.

     

    We had a very late spring, and then when the apple trees finally bloomed we had a massive wind storm that blew off almost all the blossoms before they got pollinated :(

     

    However, our pears and cherries are going gang busters.  They bloomed slightly earlier than the apples.

     

    My raspberries, strawberries and grapes also have fruit showing.

     

    I finished getting the rest of my tomatoes into the ground just yesterday. And the peppers and eggplants the day before.  I pretty much had to start everything inside because it was cold for so long. I'm glad that it no longer looks like we live in a greenhouse  :p

     

    I'm hoping that the fact that we over 16 hours of daylight during the summer will make up for the short growing season.

    • Like 1
  13. I've went to Disney multiple times growing up. I took oldest there as a child, and he visited with his grandparents as a teen, but my younger children never showed any interest.

     

    However, even if they did, Disney's hiring practices (H1-B visa abuse) really bother me, and I no longer feel comfortable giving them my money.

  14. No expert here, but I have found that deeper is better. There is way less splash mess with a deeper sink. 

     

    My experience, too.

     

    We just moved and our new bathroom has a shallow sink. What a mess!  The counter is constantly covered in water.  It's nasty.

  15. It's understandable to be fearful of the cold, but it would be nice to acknowledge a difference between cold and cold, if that makes any sense. Maybe I should just avoid this forum because there are so many people with cold discrimination who don't even know what cold is. 

     

    Yes. I realized that I'd made the leap this year when I started categorizing anything above freezing (32F/0C) as warm, as long as it's not snowing or raining.

     

    Yesterday it was negative something or other, and my son couldn't even be bothered to wear a jacket. I, on the other hand, was still wearing three layers ;)

     

    Cold is when your nose hairs freeze, and your eyeballs hurt, as soon as you walk out the door  :laugh: Thankfully, even though it's currently snowing, :glare:  I shouldn't have to experience cold cold again, until next winter  :hurray:

    • Like 2
×
×
  • Create New...